Nasa: 2005 Could Be Warmest Year Recorded

[Skidz]

NASA: 2005 could be warmest year recorded

 

 

Friday, February 11, 2005 Posted: 11:26 AM EST (1626 GMT)

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in the late 1800s, NASA scientists said this week.

 

While climate events like El Nino -- when warm water spreads over much of the tropical Pacific Ocean --affect global temperatures, the increasing role of human-made pollutants plays a big part.

 

"There has been a strong warming trend over the past 30 years, a trend that has been shown to be due primarily to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, based in New York.

 

The warmest year on record was 1998, with 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third, respectively.

 

Short-term factors like large volcanic eruptions that launched tiny particles of sulfuric acid into the upper atmosphere in 1963, 1982 and 1991 can change climates for periods ranging from months to a few years.

 

Last year was the the fourth-warmest recorded, with a global mean temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 Celsius), which was about 1.5 degrees warmer than the middle of the century, NASA scientist Drew Shindell said in an interview.

 

Average temperatures taken from land and surfaces of the oceans showed 2004 was 0.86 degrees Fahrenheit (0.48 Celsius) above the average temperature from 1951 to 1980, according to Hansen.

 

The spike in global temperatures in 1998 was associated with one of the strongest El Ninos of recent centuries and a weak El Nino contributed to the unusually high global temperatures in 2002 and 2003, NASA said.

 

Carbon dioxide, emitted by autos, industry and utilities, is the most common greenhouse gas. Hansen also said that the Earth's surface now absorbs more of the sun's energy than gets reflected back to space.

 

That extra energy, together with a weak El Nino, is expected to make 2005 warmer than 2003 and 2004 and perhaps even warmer than 1998, which had stood out as far hotter than any year in the preceding century, NASA said in a statement.

 

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday the current weak El Nino will diminish and end during the next three months.

[212wrench]

or it could rain.

[beltdrive]

or snow.....

[twinstar_ca]

with all the snow here in sask, if it's a slow melt, i can't see much of a fire season...

[twinstar_ca]

good point, mag...

[Jet B]

Buuuuuurrrrrrrrrnnnnnn baby burn...

[beltdrive]

u always can smoke cigars.......... .

[cap]

Maggie ------ using your reasoning and math means that there'll be no fires east of Quebec for about the next 20 years then.

[Rotorboy2]

Fire good.

 

Papa needs to pay for his new truck.

[Sisyphus]

Global warming is only one of the several crises facing the planet. Others are air and water pollution, overpopulation and depletion of natural resources.

 

The issues are becoming very complex. It is likely that the average citizen of Earth simply lacks the intellectual capacity to fully appreciate what is happening. One needs a comprehensive understanding of chemistry, physics, calculus, statistics, biology, history, ecology, psychology, and economics to even begin to make sense of where the planet is heading.

 

There is no academic requirement to become a helicopter pilot. There is evidence that there is some confusion where exactly in the human body thought processes occur.

 

Once, most if not all forest fires were fought. It took some time before the function of fire in Nature was fully appreciated after which some fires were left to burn, not with standing the fact that a significant proportion of fires are started by humans. But even now money is spent fighting fires in some of the most ridiculous places. A large amount of taxpayer's cash is simply being flushed down the toilet.

 

Those who exhort fires to burn are rather sad. One does not hear of doctors wishing for illness or lawyers crime so they can profit.